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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Josh Childress Is Fairly Awesome

The comments following this post have initiated the idea that Josh Childress is a "bad coach proof" player.

Micah Hart explodes this not especially thought out on my part (and barely articulated) distinction in his appreciation of Josh Childess. Using the patented (maybe?) NBA Hot Spots technology, Micah definitively answers the question of how he shoots 58% from the floor despite standing but 6-8, tipping the scales at 210 pounds, and offering more evidence that the 05-06 season represented a seriously anomalous display of three-point shooting:

Chills has taken 312 shots this year, and of those, 80% have come from the area right around the basket. This is a good thing, since he is shooting 66% (164-249) from there. His shooting percentages from outside that area don't look that great at first glance (he is 17-63 for 27%), but it's such a small sample size it's hard to draw any real conclusions.

I tend to believe Josh is better than a 27% shooter from midrange to the perimeter, but that's besides the point. Chills knows the best way for him to score is to get to the rack, and therefore he devotes almost all his effort on the offensive end towards that purpose - getting out in transition, making cuts, and crashing the offensive glass. As a result, he is a lay-up machine (with a penchant for highlight-reel dunks as well), and he is able to average double-figures in points (12.2 so far this season) without the Hawks ever running a play for him.

A smart team is going to sign Josh Childress to a long term contract this summer. The Hawks have little recent history of making smart personnel decisions. Let signing Childress be Recent Example #2 (or #3 if they look up Josh Smith first) of Billy Knight Making a Good Decision following the drafting of Al Horford.